Studies on the Control of Plague in the Western United States: Laboratory Trials of Six Insecticide Dust Formulations Applied to Soil for the Control of the Plague Vector Oropsylla montana (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae)

Abstract

In this study, six insecticide dust formulations were laboratory-tested in soil mixtures ranging in concentration from 40 to 1,280 parts per million (ppm) against a proven vector of bubonic plague, Oropsylla montana (Baker). Pulicidal effects of the six insecticides, which included three organophosphates, two carbamates, and a pyrethroid, were compared by LD(50) values at both ambient and 75% RH. Permethrin (Pyraperm 455 dust), a pyrethroid with a LD(50) less than 40 ppm, demonstrated the most effective pulicidal action for the 13-wk trial period, followed in order by chlorpyrifos, bendiocarb, propetamphos, diazinon, and carbaryl.